Brush, who is blind, said curbs present difficulties for her, but the snow makes it even worse.

This week, she opted not to go for a walk around her neighborhood after being told about some unshoveled areas.

City ordinance requires homeowners to clear public sidewalks. Those on corner lots must clear both sides.

Compliance is enforced by code enforcement officers in the city's planning and zoning department.

Mike Olson, a code enforcement officer, said it's the responsibility of the homeowner to make sure sidewalks are cleared.

"We make it the responsibility of whoever owns the property," he said. "They need to make arrangements with the tenant to make sure

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it's done."

If the city has to send someone to clear the sidewalk, the property owner will foot the bill.

Compliance with the city ordinance that says sidewalks must be clear of all snow and ice is policed based on complaints received by the planning and zoning department. After the snowfall quits, code enforcement officers wait 48 hours before issuing warnings to property owners.

"If we feel it's sufficient for someone to walk or someone that's on crutches or in a wheelchair to pass by, we'd say it's OK," Olson said. "If it's too narrow where someone in a wheelchair couldn't use it, they would get a notice and have 24 hours after the notice is posted to have it completed."

Mack said people will generally clear sidewalks, but then might pile the snow into curb cuts that make a ramp from the sidewalk to the street.

"The snow is shoveled into the accessible area because it's the lowest part of the sidewalk," Mack said. "It makes it inaccessible when it's supposed to be the most accessible part."

Usually, he can power through the additional mound of snow, but said it must be difficult for those who use manual wheelchairs and have to rely on arm strength to get by the impasse.

People with disabilities face physical barriers that can be obstacles to everyday life, but members of the Mayor's Advisory Committee for People with Disabilities said the biggest problems can be attitudinal barriers.

"That's when you look at someone with a developmental disability or someone in a wheelchair and automatically assume something," said committee member Cindy Kirschman of attitudinal barriers. "Once people learn about it, it helps."

That's why an event for more than 350 elementary-schoolers is planned today at the Civic Arena and the Aberdeen Recreation and Cultural Center.

"After this event, the kids go home and tell their parents about what they learned," Mack said. "It's a good way to affect the entire community, even if it is in a more indirect way."

Barrier Awareness Day began about 19 years ago and has expanded over the years. The interactive event will allow students to "experience" disabilities, such as wearing goggles that distort their vision or being blindfolded, in order to better understand them.

Mack is a Realtor for Century 21.

Brush works in the Aberdeen-area office of the South Dakota Division of Service to the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Both depend on accessibility to carry on with everyday business. Both also believe that education and awareness of issues faced by people with disabilities will help with barriers in the community.

Clearing the snow in street corners is an additional responsibility that corner lot owners have.

"That can be a difficult job because our plows make quite a pile there, but those corner lot property owners are responsible for clearing that path so pedestrians can cross the street without having to climb that snow," Olson said.

The snow is just one of many barriers.

"The more aware people are, the more mindful they will be," Mack said.

Mack said it's good to remind people that while most public places are accessible, the level of accessibility depends on each person's disability.

"Even I need to learn a lot about other disabilities so that we can all help each other," Brush said. "I have a visual impairment, but I can't imagine what Jamie (Mack) has to deal with every day."

Event details

Fifth- and sixth-graders from area schools will spend the day learning about various disabilities at the Civic Arena and the Aberdeen Recreation and Cultural Center. Students will visit different stations, where they will participate in activities that simulate learning and physical disabilities. The day will end with a wheelchair race between teachers in which the winning school will take home a traveling trophy.